About IWMP:
Watershed planning is a process that brings together:
• watershed residents
• government representatives
• stakeholder organizations
It ensures water, and its related resources, are effectively managed and maintained, now, and for future generations.
What is a watershed?
A watershed is an area of land that drains to a common point. For example, the Lake Winnipeg watershed spans four provinces and two U.S. states, but eventually all drains to Lake Winnipeg. More importantly, a watershed performs many important functions. It captures water from the atmosphere, stores snow and rainwater and releases water slowly, or in fl oods. It is these functions that provide the abundant and clean water so necessary for us all.
What is an Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP)?
An IWMP is a document prepared by members of the watershed community. It describes the actions needed, over time, to achieve a sustainable, healthy watershed. An IWMP is a roadmap for managing our resources for the future.
Recent water policy in Manitoba Manitoba’s Water Protection Act was proclaimed in January of 2006. The Act provides the basis for initiating, developing and fi nancing IWMPs. The goal of the IWMP process is to provide a plan that will guide the protection, maintenance and restoration of the watershed while balancing environmental, social and economic needs. Watershed planning will serve the primary functions of preserving water quality and ensuring the effi cient use and management of water to meet local and provincial needs.
The benefits of planning:
There are many benefi ts to watershed planning, including:
• providing local boards with a framework to prioritize limited resources
• providing community members with an opportunity to discuss watershed issues and concerns, and have an active voice in protecting and restoring watershed resources most important to their communities
• ensuring groups with a good watershed plan will also have access to a greater number of resources to implement their action plans
• providing a baseline or benchmark from which to measure success due to watershed activities
Why plan on watershed boundaries?
Upstream affects downstream. All activities that have an impact on water quality, quantity, or rate of fl ow at locations upstream, have impacts downstream. Because of this, watersheds are logically the most appropriate units for managing water. The watershed-based management provides a way to consider a wide range of issues along with the community’s vision for the future of the watershed under a single framework. Working within watersheds rather than political boundaries, such as towns or municipalities, the planning process can address water quality, quantity, community and habitat issues beyond the scope of single jurisdictions like towns or municipalities.
The planning process
The watershed planning process is community-driven and requires support, opinions and knowledge of the residents of the watershed. It also needs technical information from provincial and federal government agents. Throughout the planning process the following documents will be made available to the public:
• State of the Watershed report This report outlines the current health status of the watershed. In addition to the state of the watershed report, a watershed report card will be made available to evaluate watershed health indicators at a glance.
• Drinking Water Protection Plan This plan will identify and assess threats to domestic drinking water supplies throughout the watershed. It will then outline steps to protect the source of our drinking water.
• Integrated Watershed Management Plan The plan must identify issues relating to the protection, conservation or restoration of water, aquatic ecosystems and drinking water sources in the watershed. It must contain objectives, policies and recommendations and must link water management and land use planning and identify ways to implement the plan.
Take part in a watershed plan near you
There are many good reasons to get involved in watershed planning. The process gives you an active voice in protecting and restoring watershed resources that are important to the community. It is also an excellent opportunity to learn more about watersheds and provide creative and innovative strategies for dealing with issues that matter to you.
